Problems installing a new hard drive
I have a dell xps430 which came with a 650gb hard drive (or thereabouts). I originally added a second 250gb hard drive which I'd had in my previous dell, and after setting the bios to see it, it worked perfectly.
The 250 was too small, so I've just bought a 1tb samsung. I've installed it where the 250 was, and although the bios sees it, when the pc starts trying to load up, the first black screen says SMART falied, and sees that there's a samsung 1tb drive, but then sticks on the black screen saying (c) microsoft, with the scrolling bit at the bottom, and stays there.
I left it at that for about 25 minutes, not knowing if it was doing something, but then figured it wasn't, and turned off at the wall.
The bios says it is set up for raid, which I do't use, but when I clicked to choose autoraiddetect/ata it came with warning saying I may have to reinstall the OS if I click ok. I don't know if the raid setting has anything at all to do with it (the previous drive was fine with it).
Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks
The 250 was too small, so I've just bought a 1tb samsung. I've installed it where the 250 was, and although the bios sees it, when the pc starts trying to load up, the first black screen says SMART falied, and sees that there's a samsung 1tb drive, but then sticks on the black screen saying (c) microsoft, with the scrolling bit at the bottom, and stays there.
I left it at that for about 25 minutes, not knowing if it was doing something, but then figured it wasn't, and turned off at the wall.
The bios says it is set up for raid, which I do't use, but when I clicked to choose autoraiddetect/ata it came with warning saying I may have to reinstall the OS if I click ok. I don't know if the raid setting has anything at all to do with it (the previous drive was fine with it).
Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks
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I would check for updates and limitations to your motherboard bios, plus check all your drivers are up to date. It sounds like the Bios is not able to handle the drive. Also check that any jumpers on the driver are set correctly.
My advice is to get a drive caddy for the new drive and use it as an external drive and leave the 250G as is.
My advice is to get a drive caddy for the new drive and use it as an external drive and leave the 250G as is.
Thanks Strawman, I have a couple of usb external hard drives, but they are rather slow, so I wanted a big one internally to be fast. It mentioned jumpers but I couldn't see what they were, or what to do about them.
What drivers may need updating?
What drivers may need updating?
Could be many things but my first port of call would be the motherboard manual. Check that the drive is not in RAID mode as the BIOs will be expecting to find a second drive as well. Also check your jumper settings and that the BIOS can handle a drive that big.
Also turn off SMART (Simultaneous Monitoring and ReporTing) in the BIOS, see if that sorts it. To be honest SMART isn't terribly useful and does actually degrade performance slightly so you can live without it.
You could go external and get a friewire housing if you still have problems but I think that this is a problem that can be sorted without spending more money!
Also turn off SMART (Simultaneous Monitoring and ReporTing) in the BIOS, see if that sorts it. To be honest SMART isn't terribly useful and does actually degrade performance slightly so you can live without it.
You could go external and get a friewire housing if you still have problems but I think that this is a problem that can be sorted without spending more money!
Thanks Sam.
I couldn't find an option in the bios to turn off SMART - I looked - do you know where that would be found?
The pc's bios is automatically in 'raid on' in the bios, but as I said, when I clicked to turn to 'autoraid detect/ata' which is the only alternative, it came up with a warning that I may have to reinstall the OS etc if I clicked. Maybe I'll just have to bite the bullet and try it, though I'm never sure quite how much I have backed up.
I don't know how to change jumper settings - is that something physical on the hard drive? I couldn't see any little plug things.
The mb should be able to handle that size of drive as I could have chosen one as standard when I ordered the pc.
I couldn't find an option in the bios to turn off SMART - I looked - do you know where that would be found?
The pc's bios is automatically in 'raid on' in the bios, but as I said, when I clicked to turn to 'autoraid detect/ata' which is the only alternative, it came up with a warning that I may have to reinstall the OS etc if I clicked. Maybe I'll just have to bite the bullet and try it, though I'm never sure quite how much I have backed up.
I don't know how to change jumper settings - is that something physical on the hard drive? I couldn't see any little plug things.
The mb should be able to handle that size of drive as I could have chosen one as standard when I ordered the pc.
Gary, yes, that was a thought I had too. The os hard drive was higher in the list, but the next time I try the second hard drive in, I'll start the boot setup thing and make sure it boots from the first hdd.
...how many drives have you installed?
Internally, just the original 640gb and now trying to get this second one on. I also have two usb hard drives attached at all times.
...have you formated the new drive?
I can't get to the windows screen with it in the pc.
I'll try to find more about the smart thing and make sure it boots from the first hard drive and I'll put it in for another go.
...reading back.... sounds like your on Vista!?... which i have never used!.... logic says its a boot/bios problem!?... why not disconnect your usb drives for the time being... just in case!? ...reboot and go straight to bios!... or have you done that?
..the following link has helped me out a few times... search installing new drive on vista or whatever!?!....
HERE
HERE
You'll find the jumper pins on the back of the hard drive between the IDE pins and the power input. Usually if it's set to Slave, it should look like .::II , if it's Master it should be .I::I
The two jumper clips just pull out with your finger nail and you pop them on the appropriate pins.
Hope this helps.
The two jumper clips just pull out with your finger nail and you pop them on the appropriate pins.
Hope this helps.
